Near Death Experiences
by nababy123
Summary: As Raffe is carrying Penryn's dead body out of the aerie at the end of the first book, he is the one that discovers she isn't dead, rather than the humans, and he reacts accordingly. Major Raffryn fluff!


**A/N: Hi guys! It's really late and I'm just kind of writing this because I ran out of fluffy Raffryn stories to read but craved more, so I had to resort to making my own. I'm sure this is full of typos, and terrible to top it off, but it made me happy to write so... **

Ringing. As Penryn came back to some semblence of consciousness, all she could register was the ringing in her ears. Her vision couldn't focus, and all she could see was faintly blurred dark shapes moving around her. The second thing to come to her attention was that she was not on cold hard cement, like she'd been when the stinger went in, but cradled in the strong arms of who she knew deep in her soul to be her angel who could never be hers. Raffe. The last thing to register with her is that she could not move a muscle in her body. This was going to be a problem.

Raffe had gotten out most of his overwhelming emotions about Penryn's 'death' just moments before, and he still breathed hard from his heartwrenching howls and curses, and dare the agonistic angel admit it, prayers to a God he didn't know if he believed in to bring back his daughter of man. She could feel his chest moving harshly up and down beneath her still body, and she ached from the bottom of her heart to see the angel who had recently told her he didn't even like her grieve over her. As her vision cleared more, she realized they were still in the horrible basement, and the scorpion angel that had poisoned her lay dead on the floor at Raffe's feet, as well as the angel Paige had harmed. No one else appeared to be in the room. Suddenly, the world tilted and whirled before her. She was moving, or to be more specific, Raffe was moving. He was walking slowly, but with grim purpose out of the basement, and presumably the aerie. She wondered idly where he planned to take them, and then a strange thought crossed her mind. Raffe thought she was dead, so why was he taking her body with him? What was he doing?

Just then, with a fierce spark of joy burst through her as she realized that she could twitch her pinky finger. She had truly thought she was dying at first, but here was a spark of hope. She tried with no avail to move something else, anything else that would help alert Raffe that she was okay, and finally quit with a huff of frustrated breath. Breath? Raffe glanced down at her, his grief stricken face a mask of sadness and fury, then looked away again, dismissing it as his mind playing tricks on him, and continued looking for threats around them. Then there, again, her fingers, now plural! They were out of the aerie now, headed towards what seemed like nowhere, Raffe's strides even more lengthy now. Penryn had never been this frustrated in her entire, almost recently ended life. She could not bear to see the angel who had been her constant companion recently in this kind of pain. There was so much she needed to tell him, things she had kept locked up tight inside her vault until now, things she realized needed to be out in the open now more than ever. In her rage, she finally, finally managed a small spasm of her leg. This got Raffe's undivided attention, luckily, and he almost tripped in his walk, and then came to a total halt, staring down at her, eyes narrowed and dare she say, full of some unknown emotion. Was that hope? Using all the willpower she had in her small frame, she opened her eyes and stared deep into the dark blue abyss that was his eyes.

She was not prepared for what she found there. There was shock, yes, but also other, more unexpected emotions. A strange, tender one, and joy, and an overpowering amount of something she couldn't put a name to. He sinks to the ground, keeping his tight hold on her still mostly paralyzed body, and rocks back on his heels, cradling her like she's the most precious thing in the world to him. He doesn't say anything, not yet, and she wondered why. With her face buried in his chest, she can't see his face, but then she feels a small amount of wet running down the side of her face. At first she thinks she's crying, but then realizes her eyes are drying. These few tears have come from Raffe's face where it is crushed against the top of her head. She wishes she could speak, but her lips and tongue remain steadily frozen, so she resigns to making a small whining noise in the back of her throat to get his attention. He pulls back immediately to look her in the face, no evidence of his traitor tears left on his face. His eyes run greedily over all of her features, like he's trying to burn them permanently into his memories, then finally, he speaks.

"I-I didn't think..." He stammers. This is the first time she's ever heard the great Archangel Raphael at a lost for words, and in a curious way, it breaks her a little bit. She trys again to answer, and this time succeeds in getting a garbling moan out of her lips. His eyes look suspiciously glassy again and his face breaks into the softest smile she's ever seen grace his face. Penryn feels her body thawing out by the minute, and tries her best to arrange her numb lips into a smile back at him. She must look ridiculous, but Raffe doesn't make fun like her usually does, just smiles wider.

"Penryn, if it's all right with you, I'd like to move this little reunion to someplace a bit less unprotected. Would you be okay with me flying us to some abandoned house?" Raffe sounds anxious, his gaze moving from my face to dart around the surrounding area.

"That is, if that wouldn't hurt you?" He tacks on at the end, clearly just thinking of this new problem. Lying her gently out on the ground, Raffe begins a quick exam of her, taking into account that she has no broken bones. She makes an affirmative noise that sounds something like 'that's fine' and he appears to be satisfied. Carefully, ever so carefully, Raffe lifts her now limp body in his arms, standing in the same moment, causing the world to rush up around Penryn. Raffe tucks her body to his chest, wrapping two strong arms around her, one around the her thighs and the other securing her torso. In this comfortable position, Penryn's head rests in the crook of his neck, and she inhales his heavenly male scent. How long she has wished for this moment, but perhaps not like this. Raffe spreads his new demon wings, and beats them twice, and with that, they are soaring. Although she can not hold onto Raffe's strong shoulders herself, she has never felt so safe. Smiling to herself, and at that realizing that she can move her mouth, she presses a soft kiss to Raffe's smooth tan neck. He shudders slightly in the air and she grins.

"Thank you." She murmers to him, so softly she wonders if he might not hear her words with the wind rushing all around them. He appears to, however, and in response, his arms tighten around her even more. After a few more minutes of comfortable silence, he begins his descent towards what looks like a small abandoned cottage in the woods. He makes sure to be extra careful with his landing, making sure not to jostle her, and in the same moment begins his stide towards the cabin door. Opening it, they both look around and realize that it is small, sparsely furished, but will suit their needs just fine. There is an empty fireplace, a queen sized mattress, a ratty old couch and a door that presumably led to the bathroom. Walking briskly in, now that he has determined it is safe, Raffe goes immediately to the bed and lays her gently upon it.

"I'm going to go find some wood for a fire to warm you up, okay, Penryn?' He asks worriedly, fearful to leave her alone.

"Okayy, Raffe." she says in return, mocking his overbearing ways. He has enough of his old composure back to smirk at her as he exits. Realized more and more of her body has come back into her own control, she props herself up on her elbows, glancing around. Less than a minute later, Raffe is back with a bundle of sticks, which he arranges in the fireplace and somehow manages to light. In no time at all, there is a cheery blaze going, and she realizes how cold she truly is over on the bed. Struggling a little, she manages to get to her knees and finally her feet and begins her hobble over to warmth. Raffe previously had his back to her, but hearing noise, he turns and gapes at her walking. She can tell he wants to help her, but she gives him a steely look and he backs off, simply waiting for her to reach him, ready to catch her if she falls. She finally makes it over, and he helps her settle onto the floor in front of the fire, then situates himself beside her. He begins at a respectable distance away, but somehow they end up side to side, hips and arms touching just lightly. She glances over and sees him doing the exact same thing, a strange expression in his eyes as he observes her. She is the first to speak.

"What are you thinking?" She asks him, confused. He responds in an uncharacteristic way, hurt slicing through his eyes.

"I'm thinking about how it felt when I though you had died. Penryn, that was... intolerable. I've never felt so out of control and... purely sad in my entire life." His words make me want to cry. I've never wanted to be the cause of his pain and I want him to know it.

"Raffe, I am so truly sorry to have put you though that. If I hadn't been so stupid to get stung, none of this would have happened." He looks at her with increduility in his gaze, almost unbelieving.

"Penryn, none of this is your fault. Only you would think to apologize in a situation like this. You're... different." His voice grows rough at the last words, and her stomach tightens.

"Different?" she almost whispers, sounding breathier than she thought possible, much to her dismay. At her word though, his pupils dilate, and his mouth opens a bit, as his glance flickers down to her mouth and back up to her eyes again.

"So much better," he utters in a growl, just before she sees in his eyes him make a decision. With that, he is suddenly above her, his entire body pressed on the length of her, so that she can feel ever hard muscle of him against her, and he lands a soft line of kisses on her jawline. She inhales sharply, and then gives a soft noise of pleasure. This seems to give him all the permission he needs, and he begins lavishing every bit of her exposed skin with gentle but searing kisses, her eyes, nose, temples, neck, and collarbones. Everywhere except for where she truly wants it most. His hands are all over her body, one tangled in her hair, rubbing her scalp in the most tantalizing way, while the other alternated from clutching her back to making a circut from her upper leg to her shoulder, over and over again. As he moved to kiss her face, she twisted her head quickly, and finally, finally, their lips clashed together in storm of passion and simple adoration. His eyes fly open, full of surprise, but quickly close again as he moans into the kiss, and deepens it even more. They are two bodies as one, all lips and tongues and soft silky skin under hands. Finally they break apart, both gasping for air. Penryn's face is red, and her hair severely mussed, while Raffe even looks slightly mussed. They lock eyes and something passes between them.

"I lied when I said I didn't like you, you know."


End file.
